Two nights after defeating the Jazz in Salt Lake City, the Golden State Warriors (20-3) were back on the road to face the Memphis Grizzlies (16-8).
The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (rest), Zaza Pachulia wrist and Kevon Looney (ankle). Golden State head coach Steve Kerr made rookie Damian Jones active and decided to start Anderson Varejao in place of Pachulia.
The Grizzlies were without the following players: Vince Carter (hip), Mike Conley (back), James Ennis (calf), Chandler Parsons (knee), and Brandan Wright (knee).
Q1: Shooting Blanks
Golden State got off to a slow start as Marc Gasol, defended by Draymond Green and not Varejao — also with the thinking that JaVale McGee would continue to come off the bench in the rotation — hit two turnaround jumpers from the left baseline.
Kevin Durant hit his first shot from the left corner, assisted by Varejao, but that would be the last assisted field goal for nearly six minutes.
Durant got two steals, the second of which he raced down the court for a nice Euro-step, but ended up rolling his ankle slightly while trying to leave a last-second bounce pass for the trailing Varejao, which hit Andy in the shin and out of bounds for a turnover.
JaMychal Green hit two jumpers, one of them a three, and Andrew Harrison got to the free throw line twice, one on an up-fake of Varejao, who bit despite Harrison being a 29% three-point shooter, the second of which was body contact from “KD” on help on a drive with Durant blocking the shot.
After Green’s triple, Kerr called timeout as the Grizzlies jumped out to a 16-7 lead with 6:41 remaining.
After the timeout, the doldrums continued as Draymond made a bad pass leading to a fast break foul, Durant picked up his second foul on a dribbling Gasol from up top beyond the arc, JaVale McGee came in and missed from point-blank range, then got blocked by Gasol, and Tony Allen and Jarell Martin drew free throws and on more Warrior fouls.
At the other end, Klay Thompson missed a three from the right corner which McGee corralled, but missed with no call, and Stephen Curry couldn’t get the momentum swung as he missed in transition from the deep right wing.
Kerr picked up a technical, frustrated with the non-calls on the Golden State end and the whistles on the Memphis end. The Grizzles had already made 15 trips to the line, but the Warriors were also shooting just 3-for-16 through nearly nine minutes of play.
After a timeout by Kerr, McGee, who had cut to the hole strong and got fouled on the pass from Curry, missed both free throws, then Draymond threw a pass too hot for Patrick McCaw to handle.
Zach Randolph came off the bench to swish a right mid-post jumper over McGee, then Steph ran pick-and-roll with JaVale and fed him a perfect alley-oop:
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Durant blocked a Toney Douglas three from the left arc and raced up court, got the pass from Curry, and the “and-one” on the break off the window. His free throw pulled the Warriors to within 29-16 with 1:30 to play:
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But closing out the first quarter, Ian Clark couldn’t catch Durant’s swing pass to the left corner and KD missed an iso banker, dribbling into Randolph’s help.
Douglas hit a floater with 0.9 seconds to go, and the Grizzlies held steady with a 31-16 lead after the opening stanza. The Warriors shot just 5-for-20 and 1-for-7 downtown, to go along with 5 turnovers.
Q2: More Ugliness
To start the second quarter, Clark got two backdoor cuts fed by David West, and Durant hit a three up top on a pull-up in transition off a defensive rebound, but Randolph scored twice inside, the first an “and-one” against Shaun Livingston, Allen added a jumper, and Livingston committed another unforced turnover on an entry pass that trickled out of bounds to the baseline.
West added to the turnover parade as he fired a line drive outlet in transition straight into Douglas’ hands and Martin scored, giving the Grizzlies a 40-23 lead.
The Warriors finally strung a couple baskets together, though, as Thompson went backdoor, again assisted by West at the top and Klay’s first bucket of the night, Durant got a runner off of one leg, Grizzlies coach David Fizdale called a twenty-second timeout, and Livingston scored an “and-one” on yet another backdoor pass from West, his fourth assist.
But Livingston missed the free throw and the Grizzlies’ Green drew three foul shots late in the shot clock on a bad foul by West up top.
After a full timeout by Fizdale, Green hit all three free throws, then Draymond tapped an offensive rebound that Curry chased down and fired from the right arc for a swish, but Allen struck again inside on a pump fake against Livingston and Klay missed a layup down the left side, bothered by Gasol.
Later, the Grizzlies’ inside dominance continued, even as Kerr rolled the dice by bringing in James McAdoo. JaMychal drew an inside foul on McAdoo, Martin tipped in a Harrison running miss, and after missed threes by Steph, Allen drew a foul on the break, hit in the face by McCaw although the foul was given to Draymond on the body, and JaMychal drilled a right-corner triple.
Just like that, Memphis took a commanding 53-34 lead as Kerr called timeout with 2:35 left.
Out of the timeout, the woes continued as Thompson got stripped by Allen on a drive, although Draymond was there for two tips, the second one dropping.
But Gasol drew Green’s third personal, magnifying the earlier foul in which McCaw had hit Allen on the head and the foul given to Draymond.
Then after a miss by Clark, Varejao drew a charge on JaMychal, but Durant dribbled in from the baseline and lost the ball for the Warriors’ seventh turnover, and Gasol up-faked from the top and drew a bonus foul on Curry on the drive, Steph guilty on the slap.
Varejao charged after receiving a pass on the roll with Curry, then Gasol smelled blood and attacked Varejao with a swooping one-handed righty hook.
Klay hit a two-for-one dribble-and-pop, but after a Durant swat of a slipping Martin, the Grizzlies ran a misdirection on a baseline inbound that Steph bit on, and Martin ended with a dunk as Durant had to cover two people under the hoop.
Curry added a miss at the buzzer from deep, and Memphis took a 61-38 lead at halftime.
The Warriors shot just 34.1% from the field (14-for-41), 23.1% from deep (3-for-13), and committed 11 turnovers.
Durant led Golden State with 14 points on 5-for-8 field during the stretch in which he put the team on his back, but Memphis got 12 points from JaMychal Green, 11 from Gasol, and 8 from Martin. They also shot 27 free throws, making 24 of them.
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